Life in 1988
• A gallon of gas cost $0.91.
• A movie ticket cost $3.50
• Tuition at Harvard - $12,000
• CD out-sold vinyl records for the first time
• NASA implemented the Hubble Space Telescope.
• Rain Man won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Other memorable flicks from 1988 include Beetlejuice, Big, Die Hard, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Coming to America, and Bull Durham.
• Notable number one songs on the Billboard 100 included: The Way You Make Me Feel (Michael Jackson), Never Gonna Give You Up (Rick Astley), Man in the Mirror (Michael Jackson), One More Try (George Michael), Roll With It (Steve Winwood), Sweet Child o' Mine (Guns N' Roses), Red Red Wine (UB40), Kokomo (The Beach Boys), Bad Medicine (Bon Jovi).
- Other notable songs from 1988: Will Smith’s “Parents Just Don’t Understand” and NWA’s “Straight Outta Compton.”
- Bands to form in 1988: Barenaked Ladies, Boyz II Men, Nine Inch Nails, A Tribe Called Quest, Smashing Pumpkins, Sublime.
•TV's most popular programs in 1988 included The Cosby Show, A Different World, Cheers, The Golden Girls and Growing Pains.
- 1988 was also the first year of The Wonder Years and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• George H.W. Bush defeats Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election (“Read my lips: No new taxes”).
• Northeastern great Reggie Lewis was in the midst of his rookie season after being drafted 22nd overall in the 1987 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics.
• The Edmonton Oilers beat the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals, 4 games to 1.
- Only a couple months later, Wayne Gretzky, dubbed “The Great One,” is traded from the Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings. Gretzky, along with Marty
McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski, were shipped to Southern California for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, three first-round draft picks, and $15 million in
cash.
• Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams went 18 for 29, passing for 340 yards and four touchdowns as the Redskins beat John Elway and the Denver Broncos, 42-10.
• Cost of a 30-second television ad during Super Bowl XXII: $645,000
• 1988 NL MVP Kirk Gibson, hampered by a stomach virus and injuries to both his legs, pinch hits for the LA Dodgers against the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. With two outs and a full count, Gibson hits a walk-off, two-run home run against future Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley.
• Seoul and Calgary host the Summer and Winter Olympics, respectively, with the USSR winning the most overall medals and most gold medals at each.
• Barry Sanders won the Heisman while at Oklahoma State after rushing for 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns in 11 games. His 2,628-yard record still stands as the most rushing yards in a season by any Division 1 player.
• Golfer Curtis Strange clinches his first Major title, winning the first of back-to-back US Open crowns. First place netted him $180,000 from the winner’s pot.
• Steffi Graf wins all four Grand Slam events, only the third women's tennis player to ever do so.
